Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake

When I first saw this recipe on Amber's Delectable Delights, I knew I wanted to try it. I'm honestly not a huge fan of plain cheesecake, because I'm a chocolate lover and if I'm going to have desert, I'm going to have chocolate. But when I saw this I knew it would be something that would be pleasing, nay, heavenly to most palates. So when my good friends came over the other night, I made this and it was a huge hit. Everyone was definitely impressed and loved it. And while it seems like there are a lot of ingredients/steps, it was very simple to follow and relatively easy to make. I will most certainly be making this again!

Brownies
As seen on Amber's Delectable Delights, originally from Smitten Kitchen
(I halved this part just because I didn't want any brownies left over! It worked great!)

Ingredients
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
13/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on high 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs (be careful not to over bake). Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles.

Cool brownies, then cut them into 3/4- to 1-inch squares for use in the cheesecake. You will have more than the two cups of cubes, loosely measured, than you will need, and I’m sorry, you’re just going to have to decide for yourself what to do with the extra. Add cubes to cake batter as directed below.

Chocolate Crumb Crust
(I love lots of crust, so I doubled this!!)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 5 ounces finely ground Oreos, or other chocolate cookie
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions
Stir together ingredients and press into bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 10″ springform pan. Fill right away or chill for up to 2 hours.


Cheesecake

Ingredients
3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Make crumb crust as directed above for 10-inch cheesecake. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat together cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

Fold brownie cubes in very gently and pour mixture into prepared pan. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.

When completely cool, top with following glaze.


Ganache Glaze

Ingredients
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions
Place finely chopped chocolate in a medium size mixing bowl. Scald the butter and cream together in a saucepan (or in the microwave on high for 1 minute). Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in vanilla and then whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm.
Chill the cheesecake until ready to serve.

Halloween Treats

I'm pretty much a sucker for any holiday...I love decorating the house and getting into the "spirit", but most of all I love to cook and/or bake holiday-themed treats!


This year at work the girls and I decided to bring in a dish to pass and I, being the overachiever that I am, brought in two Halloween treats!

Spooky Witches Fingers

Adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com/

These little fingers were really fun to make and were really a delicious sugar cookie. I think I will use this recipe for my Christmas sugar cookies this year, with a few changes.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract (next time I make this I will use 1/2 teaspoon. It was just a bit too much for me)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole almonds (I used slivered almonds)
1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel

DIRECTIONS
Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating. Here, I added 4 drops of green food coloring to make the fingers look more witch-like! Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

Some Tips: Roll out your dough on the thin side...the cookies will get bigger as they bake. Also, use some variation in terms of length and thickness. Not all witche's fingers are the same after all!

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

Adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com/.

Well this was my first attempt at a cheesecake! Overall I think it went well. I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake myself (which is why I've never made one until now) but I thought this would be a good Halloween treat to bring in for everyone at work, which it was! This was actually a very yummy cheesecake...it was more of a cross between pumpkin pie and cheesecake. Everyone at work really loved it! It wasn't too sweet and for cheesecake it had a nice light texture.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (instead of using all Gingersnaps, I used half Grahm Crackers. I thought all that gingersnap might be too much)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake crust 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture. Blend 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the remaining mixture.
Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust, and drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the top. Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect.
Bake 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until filling is set. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Allow to cool before removing pan rim. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Tips: I watch Food Network religiously, and I thought I remember someone saying to put a cheesecake in a water bath so it doesn't crack on the top. So I did, and it didn't crack! Yay!

Happy Halloween!!!